Quick & Cheap: Back Door Makeover

I love to wake up and make a quick and cheap update to my house that brings a smile to my face.  Today's project does just that. 

I was wiping down the door knobs and light switches around the house to help tackle germs during this flu season.  When I got to the garage door I noticed how dirty and scuffed it was so decided to wipe it down...to no avail, it was just too dirty.

I decided to give our back door - the one that comes from the garage - a little freshening up.  The perfect subject for a Quick and Cheap makeover.

To start this makeover I headed to my paint stash.  I found a great little sample jar of green paint from Lowes.  It was a little duller than I wanted so I stirred in some blue paint I had on hand which gave me the color I was looking for.

Within a few minutes, I had a coat of paint on the door.  A little later, I brushed on a second coat.  Perfect.

While the paint was drying, I pulled out the Silhouette Machine (my Christmas present from the hubby - LOVE HIM!).  I did a little search of Pinterest for ideas but didn't like what I was finding.  Welcome home seemed to boring.  Instructions to remove shoes and hang up coats seemed to nagging.

A quick web search and I happened upon some quotes from Dr. Seuss.  Fun.  Simple. And brings a smile to your face.  A quick download of the "Grinched" font and I was in business.

Now, isn't that an awesome saying to greet us when we come home from a long day away!

Here is the before and after...

By definition, Quick and Cheep makeovers are just that - quick and cheap!  So here is the breakdown...

• $3   Paint Sample (1/2 left)
• $1   Vinyl  (if even)
• 45   Minutes (not counting paint drying time)

I kind of look forward to leaving the house, just so I can come home and see this greeting me!

Kid's Bathroom Updates

A change of plans on trying to sell our rental house resulted in a few updates to the kids bathroom over the weekend.  We had picked up a few things to make some updates in our builder basic house and since our renters requested to stay, we decided to utilize those things in our current house - another builder basic.  The perils of living in a tract home neighborhood is that nearly every house on the block has the exact same fixtures, mirrors and look.

Since this is our forever house, our goal is to eliminate the cookie cutter appeal of the house to better reflect our taste and style.  We have done a few things like replace the cheap brass door handles with brushed nickel and change out a few of the light fixtures.  This weekend our focus was on the upstairs bathroom - also known as the kid's bathroom.

These mass produced homes are notorious for the "Hollywood" light fixtures in the bathrooms and the over-sized naked mirrors.  Another name for these standard features ... builder cheap and builder basic.

Our updates included a simple installation of a new, brushed nickel light fixture that we were able to find a local used building supply store at a deep discount.  My husband also installed a new "hotel" shower head that we picked up the used supply store as well.  When we bought this house, we were able to find some amazing new and gently used light fixtures at the local Habitat Store.  We recently found another similar store here so of course, we had to check it out for other possible updated fixtures. 

For the mirror we utilized some left over baseboard molding that was in the garage to create a simple frame.  Following some of the many tutorials out there, we mitered the corners and painted the molding white to match our existing trim.  Then we simply glued the molding directly to the front of the mirror (making sure to paint the back of the frame since it reflects slightly in the mirror).

I love how these simple changes give a fresh new look to an otherwise boring room.  Of course, these updates inspire me to want to do more changes.

Right now, since our kids are young, they bath in our Master bathroom since it is downstairs and a bit larger for us to assist them better.  However, soon they will begin to shower on their own.  I know kids are not good at hanging up towels properly on a towel bar.  I would love to put up board and batten on the wall opposite the sink to add to the beachy feel of our "fish" bathroom (every house we have lived in has had one).  The board and batten is ideal for hooks to hang towels as they secure better to solid wood.

Maybe I can get that done in the next few months!  In the mean time, I will enjoy the wonderful updates that my darling husband did last weekend!  Thanks!